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Healthy Enchilada Soup is low calorie, thick, creamy, loaded with delicious flavors and packed with protein. Everything you love about enchiladas in a bowl of soup! Low Calorie + Low Carb + Paleo + Gluten Free
This easy, healthy enchilada soup recipe comes together in under 30 minutes and is a perfect meal year round. It’s all the things you love about enchiladas in soup form!
It’s versatile, so flavorful and packed with protein and nutrition. This healthy enchilada soup recipe is a must try along with high protein enchiladas, turkey enchilada soup, homemade healthy enchilada sauce and chicken tortilla soup!
What Makes This Chicken Enchilada Soup Recipe Healthy
This healthy chicken enchilada soup recipe is low calorie, packed with protein and high in fiber. It’s gluten free, low carb, Paleo friendly and easy to customize.
- Easy – This recipe is not only delicious, but easy to make. It can be made on a stovetop, in a slow cooker or Instant Pot.
- Versatile – There are many simple variations you use to customize this enchilada soup recipe to you and your nutrition goals. You can easily add rice, quinoa, beans, frozen corn or cauliflower rice.
- High Protein – This recipe has 29 grams of protein per serving which is considered adequate protein for a recipe. Protein is important for blood sugar management, satiety and fullness.
- High Fiber – Each serving of this recipe has 5 grams of fiber. Fiber is important for blood sugar management, satiety, fullness, gut health to name a few!
- Low Calorie – This recipe has 283 calories per serving. This recipe is much lower calorie than traditional enchilada soup recipes.
Ingredients For Healthy Enchilada Soup Recipe
Here’s what you need to make this lighter enchilada soup recipe! You will also need a large pot for cooking on the stovetop.
For full ingredient measurements, instructions and nutritional information, scroll to the bottom of this post.
- Chicken Breast (I get mine pasture-raised from ButcherBox)
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- White Onion
- Garlic
- Bell Peppers
- Arrowroot Powder or Cornstarch
- Red Enchilada Sauce
- Chicken Broth
- Diced Tomatoes
- Green Chiles
- Cumin
- Lime Juice
For specific ingredient substitutions and recommendations, see the substitutions section of the post below!
How To Cook Enchilada Soup
Here’s how to make this healthy enchilada soup recipe! Scroll to the bottom of this post for the full measurements, instructions and nutritional data.
Note you can use pre-cooked shredded chicken or you can cook uncooked chicken breast while using the stovetop method.
Step One – Heat the oil in a large stock pot over medium heat. Add the garlic, onion and bell peppers. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and sauté until the veggies are fragrant.
Step Two – Add the arrowroot or cornstarch to coat the veggies. Slowly pour the broth over the veggies while whisking to prevent lumps until the sauce thickens and all the starch has been combined.
Step Three – Add the enchilada sauce, diced tomatoes, chiles and cumin. Stir and bring the pot to a boil.
Step Four – Once boiling, reduce to a low simmer. Add the pre-cooked chicken breast to the pot with the lime juice. Simmer for another 5 minutes then serve garnished with avocado slices and cilantro.
Can You Make Enchilada Soup In A Slow Cooker
This low calorie enchilada soup recipe can be easily made in a slow cooker or crockpot!
Note you can use pre-cooked shredded chicken or you can cook uncooked chicken breast while using the slow cooker method.
Step One – Add all the ingredients to the slow cooker except for the arrowroot powder.
Step Two – Cover the slow cooker and cook on low 6-8 hours or on high 4-6 hours.
Step Three – If you are adding the optional rice, uncover the slow cooker and add the rice 30 minutes prior to being done. Stir and recover the pot to cook for the last 30 minutes.
Step Four – Add the arrowroot powder or cornstarch and stir to thicken. Serve with garnish!
Can You Make Enchilada Soup In An Instant Pot
You can make this low calorie enchilada soup in an Instant Pot. It’s very easy! I love making soups in my Instant Pot. I believe it’s the simplest method for soup making.
Note you can use pre-cooked shredded chicken or you can cook uncooked chicken breast while using the Instant Pot method.
Step One – Add all the ingredients to the Instant Pot except for the arrowroot powder. If you are adding rice (optional) to this recipe, you will add uncooked rice to the pot.
Step Two – Cover the pot and set to seal. Pressure cook 30 minutes. Note, it will take time for the pot to come to pressure.
Step Three – Once the pot is done cooking, manually release the pressure by moving the dial to release the pressure. After the steam has left, remove the lid and use two forks to shred the chicken breast. It will shred easily from being pressure cooked.
Step Four – Stir in the arrowroot powder to thicken the sauce. Serve with garnish!
Storing and Reheating Enchilada Soup
- Refrigerator – This soup will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 5 days.
- Freezing – This soup will freeze well in an airtight conainer or plastic storage bag up to 3 months. Be sure to fully cool the soup to room temperature prior to freezing.
- Reheating – Defrost the soup the night before in the refrigerator if it was frozen. Reheat in a pot on the stovetop for 15 minutes or in the microwave 3 minutes per bowl.
How To Thicken Enchilada Soup
To thicken enchilada soup, make a slurry using arrowroot powder or cornstarch. Add the starch to the vegetables per the instructions. This is optional, but if you prefer a thicker soup it will increase the thickness of the soup.
What To Serve With Low Carb Enchilada Soup
Here’s what you can serve with healthy enchilada soup!
- Rice or Quinoa – If you’re not Paleo or low carb, adding rice or quinoa is a great option. Rice and quinoa are complex carbohydrates that are healthy and will make your soup more filling.
- Frozen Corn or Canned Beans – If you’re not Paleo or low carb, adding corn or beans to enchilada soup is another way to increase the complex carbohydrates, fiber and make the soup more filling. If you are adding frozen corn or canned beans, you can stir them in during the last 5 minutes of cooking the soup.
- Corn Tortillas – Corn tortillas are low calorie and most are also gluten free.
- Almond Flour Tortillas – These are a great option for those who are following a Paleo diet.
Frequently Asked Questions – Healthy Enchilada Soup
How Many Calories Are In Enchilada Soup
This healthy enchilada soup recipe is low calorie and has 283 calories per serving, 29 grams of protein, 5 grams of fiber, 26 grams of carbohydrates and 7 grams of total fat. One serving is 1/4th of the recipe, or approximately 1 2/3 cups.
How Many Carbs Are In Enchilada Soup
This healthy enchilada soup recipe has 26 grams of carbs. It has 5 grams of fiber so net carbs are 21 grams.
Are Enchiladas Healthy
Enchiladas are generally high in calories from saturated fat and processed carbohydrates. Enchiladas are not something to eat regularly, but can be fit into a balanced and healthy lifestyle. This low calorie enchilada recipe is a healthy enchilada recipe that is baked, much lower in fat and calories.
How To Make Tortilla Soup Healthy
Chicken tortilla soup is a healthier Mexican dish in general. This homemade chicken tortilla soup recipe is a healthy and low-calorie.
Chicken Enchilada Soup Recipe Substitutions
Here are the substitutions I suggest for this low calorie chicken enchilada soup recipe. Remember when you substitute specific ingredients it does change the nutritional data from what you see in the recipe card below!
- Chicken Breast – Any protein you enjoy can be substituted. Shrimp, cod, salmon, lean ground beef, lean ground turkey, ground chicken, turkey breast, vegetarian ground meat, tofu or tempeh could all be used instead.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil – Any oil can be used.
- White Onion – White or yellow onion can be used for this recipe.
- Bell Peppers – You can used any bell pepper variety you want for this recipe. You can substitute bell peppers with zucchini if you like.
- Chicken Broth – I used no salt added chicken broth for this recipe. You can use either broth or stock for this recipe. If you’re using fish, shellfish, poultry, vegetarian ground meat, tofu or tempeh as your protein I recommend using vegetable broth or chicken broth. If using beef as your protein, I recommend using beef broth.
- Diced Tomatoes – You can use any type of canned tomatoes for this recipe or you can use fresh tomatoes and dice them prior to cooking.
- Enchilada Sauce – I used red enchilada soup for this enchilada soup recipe. You can use green or red enchilada sauce.
- Chiles – You can omit these if you like, but they do add great flavor to the recipe and they are not spicy. You can also substitute with diced jalapeños.
- Arrowroot Powder – Cornstarch or tapioca powder can be used instead. You can also omit this, but I do not recommend that as the soup will not be as thick.
- Vegetarian – To make this recipe vegetarian, swap the chicken breast for vegetarian ground meat, tofu or tempeh and use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.
- Additions – This soup is great with a complex carbohydrate like rice, quinoa, frozen corn or canned beans.
More Healthy Recipes
- High Protein Enchiladas
- Chicken Enchilada Quinoa Casserole
- Turkey Kale Enchilada Soup
- Homemade Healthy Enchilada Sauce
- Healthy Chicken Tortilla Soup
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Healthy Enchilada Soup
Healthy Enchilada Soup is low calorie, thick, creamy, loaded with delicious flavors and packed with protein. Everything you love about enchiladas in a bowl of soup!
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 lb. Chicken Breast shredded and pre-cooked
- 1 cup White Onion diced
- 3 tbsp Garlic minced
- 2 Bell Peppers diced
- 2 tbsp Arrowroot Powder
- 1 1/4 cups Red Enchilada Sauce
- 3 cups Chicken Broth no sodium
- 14 oz Diced Tomatoes with juices
- 4 oz Green Chiles canned
- 1 tsp Cumin
- 2 tsp Lime Juice or lemon juice
- Salt to taste
- Avocado and cilantro to garnish
Instructions
Stovetop Enchilada Soup Instructions
Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a large stock pot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and bell peppers. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and sauté until the veggies are fragrant 3-5 minutes.
Add the arrowroot powder to coat the veggies. Slowly pour in the broth while whisking to prevent lumps until fully combined.
Add the enchilada sauce, diced tomatoes, chiles and cumin. Stir the pot and turn the heat to high to bring the pot to a boil.
Once the pot is boiling, reduce the heat to a low simmer. Add the shredded chicken and lime juice. If you are adding rice add it at this step.
Simmer for another 5 minutes without rice otherwise 20 minutes if you are adding rice. Then serve garnished with avocado slices and cilantro.
Slow Cooker Enchilada Soup Instructions
Add all the ingredients to the slow cooker except for the arrowroot powder.
Cover the slow cooker and cook on low 6-8 hours or on high 4-6 hours.
If you are adding the optional rice, uncover the slow cooker and add the rice 30 minutes prior to being done. Stir and recover the pot to cook for the last 30 minutes.
Add the arrowroot powder or cornstarch and stir to thicken. Serve with garnish!
Instant Pot Enchilada Soup Instructions
Add all the ingredients to the Instant Pot except for the arrowroot powder. If you are adding rice (optional) to this recipe, you will add uncooked rice to the pot.
Cover the pot and set to seal. Pressure cook 30 minutes. Note, it will take time for the pot to come to pressure.
Once the pot is done cooking, manually release the pressure by moving the dial to release the pressure. After the steam has left, remove the lid and use two forks to shred the chicken breast. It will shred easily from being pressure cooked.
Stir in the arrowroot powder to thicken the sauce. Serve with garnish!
Recipe Notes
- 1/4th of the recipe equals one serving or approximately 1 2/3 cups.
- For ingredient substitutions, see the substitutions section of the blog post.
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